Chris Lombardi puts defense and security under the spotlight, as he shares his takes on recent NATO and EU cooperation and provides insight into the company’s own long-term strategic partnerships in Europe.

Three trends are currently driving the global electricity sector: decarbonization, decentralization and differentiation. Utilities are making significant contributions to mitigate carbon emissions, while a technology revolution is …

When in Rome (II)

From European Voice's Entre-Nous column

11/14/07, 5:00 PM CET

Updated 4/23/14, 8:43 PM CET

The foreign affairs ministry of Romania has updated its travel advice, putting Italy on the list of ‘yellow’ countries for which an alert is issued. Italy shares the label of mildly dangerous with Bulgaria, Iran, Mexico and Costa Rica (on the red list of dangerous countries are Afghanistan, Iraq, Colombia, etc). In Bulgaria the risk is of being robbed, in Costa Rica of catching yellow fever and in Mexico, the hurricane season. In Italy the problem is the recent decree which allows the local authorities to expel citizens of another EU member state. (Some 40 Romanians have been deported so far). In addition, several Romanians have been attacked on the street (two are in critical condition) by Italians, after the murder of an Italian woman in Rome last month, allegedly by an ethnic Roma Romanian. One young Romanian was shot dead near Napoli last weekend, allegedly in an act of revenge.Adrian Cioroianu, the Romanian foreign minister, got into hot water recently for suggesting that he would like to buy up bits of desert in Egypt so that he could send some of his compatriots there – a remark that was interpreted as being anti-Roma. At least he didn’t threaten to send them to Italy.

There is something splendidly parochial about the state-aid investigation launched last week by the European Commission’s competition department into JC Decaux, a French advertising company. The question …